Journey to forgiveness
by Anjela Richards
Summary: A young hedgehog girl runs away after she is told Sonic caused the death of her parents by accident while racing on the highway.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

This is my first story please go esay on the reviews!

**Journey to forgiveness**

Jaylin laid in her bed for hours and hours. She tried to think of the news broadcast she had just seen on TV about the strange blue animal that had appeared in the middle of the freeway. Her mother and father had been killed because their driver saw a strange blue creature in the middle of the road so he swerved and crashed into another car. Since her parents were dead her and her brothers would be put into an orphanage or worse they would have to live with her evil old grandmother.

"I can't stay here any longer…" Jaylin thought.

It was 3am before her grandmother had sobbed herself to sleep. Jaylin quickly threw herself out of her bed and grabbed her small backpack full of clothes and dry cereal. Then she put a letter she wrote next to her bed and grabbed her teddy bear.

"Come on Teddy! We have to go before it's too late." Jaylin whispered.

Then she put on her pirate bandana and opened the door to her room only to see the confused figure of her grandmother. Letting out a small shriek she closed the door hid her things and got into bed. The door quickly opened and the light flickered on.

"What are you doing up! Huh? Answer me!" she shouted.

Jaylin said nothing and continued to be asleep. Her little brother walked into her room startled.

"Grandma? Why are you yelling? I can't sleep…and where's mom?" he asked.

Their grandmother turned and thought quickly.

"She's…well…I'll tell you in the morning." she said leaving the room.

Soon after Jaylin made sure that her grandmother was sleep and then she recovered her things.

"That was too close…"she thought.

She rushed to the door and took one last look at her home and disappeared through the front door.

"Teddy… don't cry were almost there. Just around this block is the train station." Jaylin said.

"Hey shorty, what you doin on our side of town?" said a strange voice behind her.

Jaylin turned to see a gang banger and a few of his friends behind her.

"Huh? Who are y…"she asked interrupted by the strange man.

"Where you going sweetheart? We can take you there." The man said. His friends laughed as Jaylin felt a sudden wave of fear and confusion come over her.

"N…no thanks. Teddy and I know the way." Jaylin said.

"It's okay girlie we can help you out!" the man said grabbing Jaylin by the arm and pulling her towards the alley.

She kicked him and sent him to the ground. Then she started to run but one of his friends grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.

"Help! Listen dirt bag you put me down right now or else Teddy's gonna kick your butt!" Jaylin screamed. The man just laughed.

"Hey Ricky we made a new pal!" the guy said.

Ricky dusted off his shirt and walked over towards her.

"You know kicking people is a really bad thing to do." Ricky laughed.

"Eh, lets teach her a lesson Ricky!" the other man said dropping Jaylin in front of him. Ricky smiled. Jaylin held her teddy bear up high and growled but this just made them laugh. She glared at them and tried again. Out of no where a loud terrifying roar came screeching from behind them.

"H...hey Ricky I don't think that was her bear man." The guy shuttered.

They all turned to see a dark figure with blazing red eyes staring angrily at them.

"Stay away from her." It said.

"Ricky what is that thing?" the guy said pointing his gun at it.

"I don't know and I don't care just get it out of the way!" Ricky shouted.

Jaylin started to run towards it but one of the members pulled her back.

"Hey we're not finished with you!" he said but Jaylin bit him and continued running.

Ricky became outraged, pointed and cocked his gun at her.

"Hey you get back h…"

Jaylin found that within milliseconds she had been lifted onto someone's shoulders and every one of Ricky's pals were on the ground moaning in pain.

"Don't worry Maria I've got you." It said.

"M…Maria? My names Jay…" Jaylin stopped and stared amazed at him." Shadow…Shadow the hedgehog." she whispered.

"What on earth." Ricky gasped.

"He's not from earth." Jaylin said in amazement.

Shadow put her down and away from harm.

"Go home kid, your mom's probably waiting for y…"

"My mom and dad died earlier today…because of Sonic." Jaylin said putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Shadow looked back interested in what she was saying, but Jaylin was too caught up in her thoughts to finish. Ricky shot at Shadow just barely missing him. Shadow looked back and smiled.

"Oh, I forgot one." He said.

Ricky glared at him and tried to shoot again but it was too late.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow shouted angrily waving his hand at him.

He was knocked violently to the ground.

Jaylin gasped at his power and forgot about the danger she was in.

"Amazing! How did you oh ya your Shadow…the Ultimate life form." Jaylin said.

Shadow chuckled to himself and turned towards her.

"Who are you and why are you running away from home?" Shadow asked.

Jaylin thought of an excuse but eventually she decided that she could somewhat tell him the truth.

"I have to find Sonic the hedgehog because he caused the death of my parents." she said.

Shadow stared at her for a minute shocked at what she said.

"Sonic? Who told you that Sonic killed your parents?" he asked.

"I saw it on the news. He caused a car accident that killed them…and now I'm going to go and find him!" Jaylin said.

"What do you expect him to?" Shadow asked.

"Apologize." she said.

Shadow laughed and when he saw that she was serious he laughed even harder.

"You're going to travel all the way to Mushroom canyon so that Sonic the hedgehog will apologize for racing down a highway?" Shadow asked.

Jaylin nodded as her hopes of finding him decreased. Then as he laughed she thought of an idea.

"Will…will you help me find him?" Jaylin asked.

Shadow stopped laughing and glared at her. She trembled at how angry he looked.

"No, anyway you should go home. It's dangerous out here. You could get hurt or something." Shadow said.

Jaylin felt her hopes drop but she tried again.

"Please Shadow! I have to see him. He needs to know that he's hurting people." she cried.

Shadow grabbed her backpack and read her address. Then picked her up and ran to her house.

"Stay here!" Shadow ordered.

Jaylin glared back at him.

"I'm going find him with or without you! I won't go back to that house!" Jaylin shouted.

Shadow stared at her angrily as she walked around him.

"I said to stay here!" Shadow shouted.

Jaylin turned to shout at him but instead she saw a car coming around the block with a gun pointed out the window, and the same guys that jumped her the first time where sitting inside.

"I said stay h…"

"Look out!!!" Jaylin screamed she spread her arms to block the bullets as the sped towards her.

Shadow looked to see the bullets being destroyed one by one as they hit the force field the young girl had created. The car drove by and when it got halfway down the block, it exploded.

"What the heck…" Shadow whispered.

Jaylin's entire body trembled a little as she passed out.

"Oh crap." Shadow gulped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

Jaylin woke up to see a large eared bat staring at her irritated and confused.

"Hey Shadow! Your little brat's awake! What do I feed it?" Rouge asked.

Jaylin gasped as she rose from a small black couch. Looking around she found she was far away from her home.

"Where am I?" Jaylin asked slightly dizzy and very confused. Rouge laughed.

"You really did kidnap her didn't you?! Oh wow, that means she can do all the chores! I can't wait to tell Omega!" Rouge said patting Jaylin on the head.

"She can't do chores; she's only 8 years old she can't even reach the sink." Shadow said flipping through her diary.

"Hey that's my diary you can't read that!" Jaylin whined.

Rouge flicked her.

"Don't whine! It's annoying." Rouge said drinking some of her water.

Jaylin looked over at Shadow who finally put down her diary.

"When are you taking me to see Sonic?" Jaylin asked.

Shadow looked over at Rogue who spit out her water and laughed.

"You're such a liar! You didn't kidnap her!" she laughed.

Shadow growled before leaving the living room and going into the kitchen.

"Hey Rouge watch her for me, I have to go tell her family where she is." Shadow shouted from the other room.

Rouge's eye twitched as he came out a few minutes later.

"No way! I've got things to do," she said looking through the blinds in her window. "things to steal."

"Too bad this is more important then you going on a date with Knuckles." Shadow said sighing before he left out the front door.

Rouge growled.

"You'll be sorry Shadow I promise in fact why don't you come with me?!" Rouge asked. She turned to see Jaylin poking a dusty robot that sat in a corner.

"No! Don't touch him!" Rouge shouted.

Unfortunately it was too late and Omega had awakened.

"I am ready to help Rouge the bat steal the chaos emeralds… what has happened? I feel uncharged." Omega said in his mono toned voice.

Rouge growled at Jaylin and sighed.

"I don't care what Shadow said, you can't stay here!" Rouge said trying to keep her cool.

"But where…where do you want me to go?" Jaylin asked.

Rouge opened the front door and glared at her.

"OUT!" she shouted.

Jaylin looked over at Omega and then at Rouge.

"But Shadow will get mad at you won't he, plus who knows who I might talk to after I leave. I could tell the police where you're hiding." Jaylin threatened.

Rouge thought for a minute and then she slammed the door.

"Fine… you win for now, but as soon as Shadow gets done feeling sorry for you, your outta here!" Rouge grumbled as she sat on the couch.

Jaylin smiled and sat next to her.

"So, you're Rouge the bat right?" Jaylin confirmed.

Rouge nodded.

"Knuckles likes you, you know that right." Jaylin teased.

Rouge blushed and picked up a magazine.

"Hey aren't you hungry, go make yourself something to eat." Rouge mumbled.

Jaylin giggled and picked up her bag of cereal. While shoving a handful in her mouth she watched Rouge turn on the TV.

"Can we watch cartoons?" Jaylin asked.

"No." Rouge said.

Jaylin smiled. She knew that asking was pushing it. Then she turned her focus towards Omega.

"Hey… are you really going to make him steal jewels and stuff for you?" Jaylin asked eyeing the large robot.

Rouge nodded.

"Today however I think I'm going to sit here and watch my TV show" Rouge said as she wondered what Shadow was really doing.

Jaylin watched Rouge quietly as she tried to watch television. Her focus slowly broke; she knew the young girl was waiting to do something. Anything at this point, she had no interest in reality TV therefore Rouge sighed and turned the TV to a random cartoon and left the room. Grateful in spite of Rouge's hatred for her Jaylin took out a small piece of paper and made her a thank you card.

Dear Rouge,

Thank you for being so nice to me! Even though you probably think I'll be an annoyance, I won't be. I will pull my weight and I won't complain or whine and I'll stay out of your way. I promise.

P.S. You're nicer than my grandma! And that's really saying something.

Love,

Jaylin

Then she folded it up nicely and slipped it under Rouge's bedroom door. Jaylin decided it was too early to be awake and so soon after she finished her letter she fell asleep on the couch wondering how her mother and father were up in heaven.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

The next few years passed quickly and Jaylin became less and less effervescence. Shadow influenced her to be dark and anti-social, and Rouge taught her to be sneaky and how to get what she wanted without too much trouble. All together Jaylin became mysterious and strange. She often stared up at the sky or random objects around the room. Before too long she didn't have any friends and she was picked on daily.

Still she was a very kind and smart person. She knew how to brake into museums and often thought of ways to find the guy who she believed to of killed her parents, Sonic the hedgehog. Her family still looked for her even after the police stopped and one day she snapped. She felt like a failure because she still couldn't find Sonic, her family was torn apart, and no one liked her. Everything in her life was full of pain and she couldn't take it anymore.

At 4:00 am she woke up for combat training with Shadow. Then she did yoga at 5:00am. Finally at 6:00 she got ready for school and ate breakfast so Shadow could Chaos control her to school, or rather a dark alley that she would cautiously come out of and walk to school. Today was somewhat different though, she had taken a chaos emerald with her to school just because. When she got there she listened to her teachers complain about things like parent signatures and information sheets. Then she skipped lunch for target practice with Omega who brought her back in secret as soon as her next class started.

After school she started to walk home knowing she would face the wrath of her ex-best friend Ericka. The small group of girls had known about Jaylin being an orphan. They also didn't like her since she stopped doing their homework.

"Hey Jaylin! Get over here I need you to do something for me! Ericka commanded.

Jaylin thought about running but she knew it was only a matter of time until they caught up, so Jaylin stopped and wondered what Shadow would think of her. Ericka smiled and patted her on the head getting a sticky sweet substance on the hat Rouge had gotten her.

"Good girl." Sabrina teased and Rachel laughed.

"I have this really hard essay to write but I'm going out with Derek Wilson today so you're going to do it for me." Ericka told her.

"I…I can't…I won't do your homework," Jaylin said "I have to go now." Jaylin started to walk away but Rachel stopped her.

"Jaylin, Jaylin, Jaylin, when will you learn? We know about your parents remember? I know your some homeless orphan who shoplifts to survive. You can't do anything unless I give you the permission, so you're going to do my homework and I'm going out with Derek!" Ericka growled.

Jaylin started to lose it dark memories of her grandmother swept over her. She saw images of her grandmother yelling at her that she was useless. She smiled and chuckled softly to herself.

"Y…you can't do your homework because you broke your arms? There was a terrible accident, your bones were shattered into pieces right, wasn't that how it happened?" Jaylin asked.

Rachel and Sabrina both looked at each other in confusion and switched glances of worry with Ericka.

"Are you threatening me? You better not be! I am your master! Now do my homework!" Ericka commanded raising her hand to strike her, and then she forced it down towards her face only to stop a few inches from Jaylin's face. Ericka gasped; she had no more control over her hand.

"Really," Jaylin asked and she chuckled again." I swear I heard you crying that you felt like pieces of your bone were floating around in your arms. She looked at Ericka's arms and smiled. Her eyes no longer had a pupil.

Ericka cried out for help but Rachel and Sabrina were gone. She tried to move her hand but Jaylin had complete control of it.

"How are you doing that? Let me go!" Ericka screamed. A look of terror and panic swept over her face but Jaylin was gone and all that was left was a merciless monster. She only smiled as it started to rain. Then with a wave of her hand she crushed every bone in her arm.

"Chaos control." she said

Ericka screamed as the excruciating pain drifted across her arm. It was nothing but boneless matter attached to her shoulder now.

"Jaylin?! Jaylin stop!" Shadow commanded over Ericka's screaming.

Jaylin simply moved to the next arm. Static embodied her hair and it squirmed around on her head. Shadow growled.

"Shoot her with the strongest knock out bullet you have." Shadow instructed.

Omega raised his hand aimed and fired.

Small needle like bullets flew at her until they hit a force field she had created to protect her. Jaylin sensed them and turned to see Shadow and Omega.

"Shadow?" she hissed.

"Shoot her now!" Shadow commanded, but Omega wouldn't.

"She will simply stop the bullets there's no point in me even trying." Omega stated unfathomable. Ericka finally stopped screaming and passed out.

"Why didn't you tell me I had such power?" Jaylin cried.

"Look Jaylin, we have to get out of here before the police come!" Shadow shouted angrily.

"What about the girl?" Omega asked.

"Forget the g…" Shadow thought for a minute about the last promise he made. Thinking fast he ran picked Ericka up and glared at Jaylin.

"You better hope she isn't dead…I'll have to deal with you when I get back." Shadow growled. Jaylin took a step back. Quickly the life drained back into her face and her eyes returned to normal.

"I…I'm sorry." Jaylin whispered terrified of the anger in Shadow's eyes.

Then he left leaving Jaylin with Omega. Jaylin looked at her hands and dropped the chaos emerald.

"I have to get out of here…" she whispered.

Jaylin turned to run but Omega watched her curiously examining her every step.

"Do not move Jaylin Roberts." He instructed.

Jaylin took a step back and then another. She knew Shadow was suddenly behind her and she was afraid to turn around. Feeling trapped she broke down and covered her face with her hands.

"What have I done?" she shuttered.

Shadow pitied her and sighed.

"No one knows that you did this right? he asked.

Jaylin was silent and she just barely got out the names of the two girls that witnessed the attack.

"Rachel and Sabrina they saw**…" **Jaylin sobbed.

Shadow knelt down and hesitated before hugging her, and he thought about Maria. "Why me?" he asked himself. It started to rain harder.

"The police, when they find you…they'll take you to your family, they think I did this so you won't be blamed." Shadow said.

"No! They can't!" Jaylin whispered. "They can't!" she cried.

"Jaylin! You've brought this upon yourself! You put yourself in danger. No one can do anything about it now!" Shadow told her.

"Please I didn't…you haven't..." Jaylin sighed knowing there was nothing she could do.

Shadow stood up and walked to Omega who still didn't understand what was truly going on.

"It's safer for you to go off by yourself now." Shadow said.

Jaylin looked up gapping.

"You're just going to leave me?" Jaylin asked. She became angry.

"I thought about taking you to an orphanage, but they won't understand your power…like they didn't understand mine. I've decided that you can take care of yourself so…" Jaylin cut Shadow off.

"You don't care about me do you?" she asked standing up drenched in water. Her hair covered her face.

Shadow glared at her.

"Don't talk to me like that! I've tried to help you all this time!" Shadow shouted.

"Whatever." Jaylin growled she turned and left.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" Shadow yelled. Jaylin waited for him to try and run after her but Omega stopped him.

"She'd rather die then go off by herself; she's only pissing you off because she knows you have the power to do it." Omega stated.

"Whatever." Shadow said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

Jaylin walked in the heavy rain with her backpack and all the money she had saved up during the year with Rouge. Sirens could be heard up and down the street. She suddenly felt panicked and started running. The sirens only got louder so she continued running until she got to the train station. Thinking fast like Shadow always did she snuck onto the train. She found a seat where no one else sat and hugged her legs. A small tear silently washed down her cheek.

"I'm alone again." she said taking her teddy bear out of her backpack.

"Lets just ride the train till we get to the last stop, okay." she said.

The teddy bear stared back at her almost lovingly. She rubbed her eyes as the train slowly came to the first stop.

"Downtown Starlight city! All aboard! The conductor shouted.

A crocodile, a bee, and a chameleon, walked on the train. Espio quickly sensed her sadness and walked towards it.

"What's goin on Espio?" Vector asked.

"Ya where are you going?" Charmy asked.

Espio ignored them and walked up to her. She had put her teddy bear away by now and was staring sadly out of the window.

"Excuse me Ms. but are you okay?" he asked.

Jaylin looked up shocked that anyone even cared how she felt.

"I…yes I'm fine." she lied.

Espio stared at her for a long time reading her mind and memories till she started to feel uneasy.

"Um, did you want something." she asked.

Espio stayed silent.

"Hey Espio, leave the lady alone, she's probably freaked out enough don't need to read her mind to figure that out." Vector laughed and smacked him.

Charmy laughed.

"You just told on him Vector!" Charmy shouted.

Vector smacked him.

"You idiot no I didn't but you just did!" Victor laughed.

"It doesn't matter my thoughts are just as useless as I am." Jaylin mumbled.

"Oh come on your not useless! You look cool to me! In fact why don't you come hang out w…?" Vector smacked him.

"Girls aren't allowed to join the team! What will the cops think of us?" Vector yelled.

"Don't worry I'd be an annoyance anyway." Jaylin sighed.

Charmy sat next to her and smiled.

"Can you cook, and clean what about play video games?" Charmy asked.

Jaylin smiled and nodded.

"Well, well, well we finally see a smile." Espio chuckled.

"You're such a flirt Espio!" Charmy shouted making Espio blush.

"Shut up Charmy!" he shouted and smacked him.

"Why do you smack people so much?" Vector asked.

"What are you talking about? You've been smacking people all day!" Espio replied.

Jaylin giggled which drew a lot of attention to her. All three of the guys smiled.

"Oceanstone plateau! All aboard!" the conductor shouted.

"Hey that's our stop!" Charmy shouted.

"Why don't you come with us?" Espio asked softly this time making Jaylin blush.

"I…I…" Jaylin thought for a moment.

"Well since you have other places to go." Espio said taking a cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. "We'll call you." he said.

Charmy laughed.

"Smooth move Espio! You get that line from the internet?" Charmy teased.

Jaylin and Vector laughed again as Espio grabbed his antenna.

"Let's go Charmy" Espio growled.

"Wait! What if someone calls for you do I answer the phone?" Jaylin asked still blushing and kind of embarrassed for taking the phone.

"Trust me no one's going to call Espio!" Vector shouted. Charmy's laughing turned into a roar.

Espio glared at them both but decided to ignore them.

"Only answer the phone if it's Vector, Charmy, or me of course." he said.

Jaylin agreed and said goodbye as they got off at their stop.

"Espio…" she said starting to daydream when suddenly the phone she had started to ring.

"Hello?" Jaylin said not even looking at the caller id.

"J…Jaylin?! You…did you look at the caller…"

"I don't remember telling you my name." she said.

Espio fell silent over the phone.

"I'm sorry have I offended you? I did read your mind if that's what you're asking, it's more of a bad habit." he said.

"Oh…" she mumbled.

"I didn't mean to offend you! I guess, I…I was trying to find out why you were so sad…I hope your not angry. I mean I wanted to see you smile." he said.

"Awwwwww!" Victor and Charmy cooed.

"Shut up! Both of you! Stop listening to my conversation!" Espio shouted.

"Last stop till morning! Mystic Ruins!" the conductor shouted.

"Hey Espio…this is my stop I have to go okay." Jaylin said.

"Please don't hang up! I… I wanted to talk to you." Espio said sounding kind of pathetic. Jaylin giggled.

"I promise to talk to you in the morning okay Espio." Jaylin promised.

Espio smiled and agreed.

"Wow the pathetically desperate type really does work on girls!" Charmy shouted right before Espio hung up the phone.

Jaylin hung up and got off the train. She realized she was lost as soon as the train rode away into the darkness.

"Oh crap! Where am I? What am I going to do now?" Jaylin asked herself.

"So then I used the chaos emeralds to power it and it flew all the way to Station Square!" the fox on the phone. If she had been paying attention she would have known that Tails was walking past her.

"Let's see, I should find somewhere safe to stay." Jaylin thought.

She walked till she got to the opening of a jungle. Without thinking she walked aimlessly through the jungle until she suddenly felt very drowsy. Her entire body felt weak and soar but she kept going.

"W…what's wrong with me?" she thought too tired to speak.

Her phone rang; she picked it up but couldn't speak. Espio unaware of this started talking.

"Jaylin it's me Espio! Are you okay? I sensed there was something wrong please answer me! Jaylin are you there?" he asked.

She pushed past a few heavy branches and stared almost horrified at the scene in front of her. A tall dark figure stood in the rain in front of a dark pyramid like structure. It spoke in a strange language to 3 protectors of the pyramid. They also spoke back strangely while Espio finally stopped talking and listened. After sometime of standing in the open Jaylin collapsed when she saw all of them turn around to face her. His long dreadlocks swung in the rain and his magenta eyes stared confused back at her. The last thing she heard was Espio telling her run for her life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

She had a strange dream that night. Jaylin looked around the ruins of a city. She was drenched in water even though it was hot outside. Sonic looked at her and gave her thumbs up sign. She smiled back at him and agreed with something he said.

"Thank you, I understand now…yes, I finally understand." she said.

"Good." Sonic sighed.

When Jaylin woke up she lay in a hammock tucked in so tight she couldn't move.

"What happened last night?" she asked sounding wasted.

She tried to move but it was no use. She thought about yelling but she saw too many horror movies where the character cried out for help and the guy came out and killed them. So she sat there wondering what happened the night before and trying to forget the ridiculous dream she had. Thanking Sonic was stupid when he hadn't apologized to her in the first place.

"Hey kid, you're awake? Why didn't you say something?" Knuckles asked walking over to her.

"Who are…Knuckles? You're Rouge's boyfriend, the one she wouldn't stop complaining about!" Jaylin stated before she thought about what she said.

Knuckles paused for a moment and his sweat dropped.

"What? How do you know Rouge? What did she say about me?" Knuckles grumbled in just as much shock as Jaylin was in.

"She, she told me to never repeat what she said." Jaylin laughed relieved she ended up with someone she knew was safe.

Knuckles stared at Jaylin for a minute wondering why she didn't get out of the hammock.

"You know you can come out of the hammock anytime you want, Rouge isn't coming over today, she said she had a family emergency." Knuckles said.

Jaylin thought for a minute.

"A family emergency? Rouge doesn't have any family." Jaylin thought.

"She, she considers me family? I thought she hated me." Jaylin whispered.

"Say again." Knuckles replied.

"I…I can't get out of the hammock." Jaylin said struggling.

"Okay, well when you're ready…" Jaylin cut him off.

"No I **_can't _**get out of the hammock!" she said.

Knuckles laughed and untucked her.

"Sorry about that, when I found you, you were going to get pneumonia. Speaking of when I found you, why were you hanging out by the edge of the cliff?" Knuckles asked suspicious of her actions.

Jaylin frowned.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't hanging out by the edge of a cliff, I got lost in the jungle." she stated.

"What were you doing before you went into the jungle?" Knuckles asked.

"I was…walking" she said thinking fast.

"Before that." Knuckles said.

"Talking to my f…" Knuckles cut her off.

"How do you know who Rouge the bat is?" Knuckles asked.

"I…"

"Did Shadow kidnap you?!"

"No! He..."

"Did he hurt you?"

"What!?!"

"Don't worry he can't harm you here."

"He was helping me!"

"Is that what he told you?"

"What are you talking about? Stop it Knuckles I asked him to take me to Sonic, sonic, he killed my parents!" Jaylin screamed.

Knuckles stopped and looked at her.

"Sonic…Sonic what?" he asked.

Jaylin hung her head. She trembled and choked back her sobs. Every time she thought about that night she felt like crying.

"He's locked up isn't he?" Jaylin guessed and Knuckles nodded.

"They sent Sonic after him because no one else could catch him. Then they checked his house but Rouge and Omega had already gotten away. They found a picture of all of you. Everyone's looking for you; the police reopened your case. Shadow won't tell them anything and no one can find Rouge." Knuckles summarized.

Jaylin stared at him in disbelief. She closed her eyes and sharply took a deep breath.

"Why did they lock Shadow up? He hasn't done anything." Jaylin growled.

"Hey calm down! Your family says you have a weak heart. You could pass out or something." Knuckles said.

"My family is dead! Didn't you hear me?" Jaylin yelled.

Knuckles sighed and Jaylin's phone rang.

"That stupid phone keeps ringing! Who keeps calling you?" Knuckles said handing her the phone trying to keep her calm.

Jaylin gasped and picked up the phone.

"Espio?! I'm so sorry! I…" Espio cut her off.

"She's okay! You can call off the rescue search!" Espio shouted to his two co-workers.

"I was walking…I saw…" Jaylin paused so she wouldn't tell him too much.

Espio tried not to read her mind but he couldn't help it so he gave the phone to Charmy.

"Uh, hi Jaylin! So did you think about coming to visit us yet? By the way Espio gave me the phone so he could stop himself from reading your mind." Charmy shouted.

"You shouldn't talk to those guys, they're all crazy." Knuckles laughed, but Jaylin ignored him.

"Hi Charmy, ya I think I'll go visit you guys right now." Jaylin said grabbing her things and trying to get past Knuckles.

"No way I have to take you back to your family! Didn't **_you_** hear **_me_**?" Knuckles told her.

"Put Espio on the phone for a minute okay Charmy." Jaylin said.

"I don't remember telling you my name!" Charmy laughed.

"You didn't have to Vector said it out loud." Jaylin said.

Trying to remember he gave the phone to Vector by accident.

"Hey Jaylin, what's up?" Vector replied.

"Knuckles is holding me hostage!" she lied.

After a while of yelling she gave Knuckles the phone and waited for Vector to talk to him.

"This is my island! Besides she's a runaway! Her family is looking for her."

…

"Yes, the same girl on the news!" Knuckles replied.

…

"You're an idiot, you know that." Knuckles stated.

…

"Ya, ya goodbye Vector." Knuckles said hanging up the phone.

Jaylin stared at him confused and he sighed.

"What do you want me to do huh? Break Shadow out of jail? Tell Sonic to stop acting stupid? Trust me I've done that before!" Knuckles yelled in frustration.

Jaylin sighed.

"I want Shadow out of jail and I want to talk to Sonic the hedgehog. That's all I wanted in the first place." Jaylin said.

Knuckles sighed.

"I want to know why I have to stay on this island but you don't hear me cryin about it." Knuckles grumbled.

Jaylin frowned.

"If you bring me back home I'm just going to run away again." Jaylin said.

Knuckles growled in frustration and glared at her.

"You're even more stubborn then I am." Knuckles said smiling.

Jaylin smiled back.

"How about I take you home and then get Sonic to visit you?" Knuckles compromised.

Jaylin thought for a minute.

"What about Shadow?" she asked.

"You'll have to tell the court that he's innocent." Knuckles said making a deal.

"Fine." Jaylin said shaking his hand.

Knuckles turned on the news to see what was going on.

"In the case of Jaylin Roberts Shadow the hedgehog has broken out of jail once again with the help of Dr. Robotnic. No one knows where they are now but hopefully Sonic and his team will find little Jaylin before they find her." The news lady said.

Instantly as if she already knew what was going to happen, Jaylin called the deal off. Knuckles stood there baffled as she started to walk away.

"What do you mean the deals off? Knuckles asked angrily.

"Shadow listens to Eggman's every command. He's like a slave when he's around him. I won't let that happen again." Jaylin said.

"Sonic will take care of it." Knuckles growled.

"I don't want Sonic to have anything to do with this! He's too unreliable! He never takes anything seriously! I don't want something to happen again because he was playing with other people's lives." Jaylin said.

Knuckles stared at her blankly for a minute as he started to think.

"You know what I don't think Sonic was responsible for the death of your parents. I think…" Knuckles stopped as he watched Jaylin quickly jump up to the branches of a tree.

"I don't care what you think! I saw what I saw." Jaylin shouted getting angry as she spoke.

"You don't understand, a long time ago Eggman…" Jaylin cut him off again.

"I don't care about Eggman!"

"Would you listen for a minute?"

"Stay away from me!"

"You're on my island!"

"You brought me here! I didn't ask you to save me!"

"What? Would you rather me let you to die?"

Jaylin stopped and glared down at Knuckles.

"Yes! I'm tired of living! I hate my life, I'm a useless and I get in the way. My parents didn't even like me!" Jaylin screamed.

Knuckles was speechless. He only stared at her wondering.

"You…why would…who told you, you were useless?" Knuckles asked.

Jaylin's eyes watered and she sat on the tree branch.

"My grandmother." she sniffed.

Knuckles sighed and looked up at her confused. He didn't know what to do now. Hoping she wasn't crying Knuckles motioned for her to come down from the tree. So she did since she couldn't jump from tree to tree without falling.

"You're not useless. No one's useless; see everyone has a place in the universe. Like mine for example, I have to protect the master emerald. I don't know why but that's what I'm supposed to do." Knuckles said walking with her.

Jaylin laughed a little bit.

"You sound like those stupid little kid shows." she said.

Knuckles shrugged.

"Yes well it's true. Now we have to take you home, and just so you know your granny's not taking care of you, your aunt Terra and uncle Percy are your legal guardians." Knuckles said.

Jaylin smiled and nodded. She was relieved.

Knuckles flew her accross the ocean back to the mystic ruins. This time they walked around the pyramid and back to the train station.

"Okay then stay right here, I have to go get the train tickets." Knuckles said and Jaylin agreed to stay this time. She felt as if things would start to get better now and that she could finally move on.

Knuckles bought the train tickets and got ready to get inside when Tails suddenly called him from outside the station. Jaylin had already gotten inside but something told Knuckles that whatever Tails was saying was extreamly important.

"Knuckles! Don't let Jaylin get on that train! It's a trick, that's Eggman's train/ship he's using to kidnapp her!" Tails shouted.

Knuckles didn't even wait for him to finish. He quickly tried to open the train's doors but Jaylin was already inside and still unaware that she was in danger.

"Jaylin! Jaylin open the door!" Knuckles shouted but the train drove away. Eggman's horrible annoying laughter filled the air as the train lifted off the track and flew away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

Jaylin quickly realized the train was no longer on the track while looking out the window.

"Hey Knuckles, what's going on?" Jaylin asked.

After a while of silence she turned to see why Knuckles wasn't answering her. Instead she was face to face with a very dangerous imposter.

"What the! You…your not Knuckles." Jaylin shuttered at the robot who looked a lot like Knuckles.

The robot sat quietly staring at her almost as if it was trying to decide on who she was. Jaylin knew she was trapped and looking out the window she realized she was over the ocean. She felt the coldness of its eyes and shivered.

"Do not move, Dr. Robotnic will be with you soon." Metal Knux said.

Jaylin wasn't as surprised as most people would be. She thought Shadow had convinced Eggman to pick her up. Still she couldn't help but question why she was there in the first place.

"W…what does Eggman want with me anyway?" she asked. However the robot sat there next to her without a sound and she started to feel uneasy about it.

Listen, is Shadow is here somewhere? I kind of wanted to talk to him. Jaylin told the robot. "I broke my promise by stealing from him. And I think he needs to know I don't have the chaos emerald anymore."

The robot stared blankly at her.

"I do not care about your business with that show off." Metal Knux said.

She shrugged. Then she sighed and looked back out the window.

"Ah so you are the famous Jaylin." Eggman said from behind her.

Jaylin turned in her seat cautiously avoiding Metal Knux's sharp claws.

"What do you want with me? I don't have anything of value, not even a chaos emerald." Jaylin said.

"Oh course you don't have anything I want, you **_are_** something I want." Dr. Eggman said with a quick chuckle.

Jaylin stared at him for a minute and thought about how to get away from him while still above the water.

"You see dear, I've done a little research and I realized just how important you are to my empire." Eggman said.

Me?! How am I important? I've never committed a crime… as far as I know." Jaylin said thoughtfully remembering Ericka.

Eggman laughed at her ignorance.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you who you were? With your power I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet." Eggman asked.

"I'm not as gullible as Knuckles how am I supposed to believe you?" Jaylin asked.

Eggman's happy smile quickly turned into a frown.

"You don't trust me but you trust Sonic's pal Knuckles? Isn't he the one who tried to keep Shadow in prison?" Eggman asked.

Jaylin turned back to the window.

"Rouge trusted Knuckles; he was always been trustworthy through her eyes." Jaylin said.

The same Rouge who abandon Shadow to save herself?" Eggman laughed.

"She, she didn't ditch him!" she shouted unsure.

"What would you call it?" Eggman asked which made Jaylin angry.

"Oh ya? What about you? You treat Shadow like a slave and pretend to like him. You're constantly trying to use him to destroy the world!" Jaylin argued.

"True, but now I think I'm going to try something different." Jaylin said.

"Like what?" Jaylin said afraid to ask.

"Glad you asked, Metal Knux take her to her room. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." Eggman chuckled.

"No! My family is w…"

"Lying to you. You're an orphan. No one has ever really liked you, pity is all you'll ever get from anyone." Eggman laughed.

Metal Knux grabbed her cutting her sleeves to shreds and pulling her towards some prison cells. Jaylin tried to pull away but her arms were cut by his sharp claws. She winced in pain and fear but she still tried to get away.

"Your lying, my mother… my father… I don't believe you!" Jaylin shouted as Metal Knux threatened to cut her again.

"Ha! Believe it kid." Eggman said.

"Come on Sonic quit playin around! Knuckles shouted.

Sonic smiled as he tried to concentrate.

"Okay, okay, one second Knuckles sheesh." Sonic laughed. "Besides Tails isn't even ready yet." He juggled his rings on the side of the cliff while Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"One day you're going to fall of that cliff you know. Then what will you do? Ask Amy to send you a floaty? Have you forgotten you can't swim?" Knuckles growled.

"Oh come on Knuckles lighten up and try to think positive, I'll be fine. Besides, Amy destroyed my floaty and tried to get me a private swimming teacher." Sonic said thoughtfully about who would take the job.

"Stop playing around! I'm serious Sonic!" Knuckles shouted.

"You're too serious Knuckles. I know exactly what I'm doing!" Sonic laughed trying to balance on one foot.

"Alright guys the X tornado is ready to go!" Tails said showing off his plane then he sighed. "You're going to fall and then Amy's going to have to bring you your floaty again." Tails said.

Sonic caught his rings and jumped on the top of the plane and Knuckles started laughing.

"I was playing around! Amy really had to bring you a floaty?" Knuckles laughed.

Sonic gave him an embarrassed smile.

"Well then what are we waitin for let's go Knuckles, hurry up!" Sonic teased.

Without another word they flew off towards Eggman's ship.

When they finally caught up Knuckles and Sonic got on the ship unnoticed. Tails landed but decided to stay on his plane, he didn't want to get in the way since this was a search and rescue mission.

"You go left I'll go right okay. Oh and just so you know, she hates you guts so don't act like she's a fan." Knuckles whispered trying to remain unseen.

Sonic didn't answer.

"Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic had already gone off to find her.

"He'll figure it out." Knuckles thought.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

**Sonic's POV**

Sonic ran aimlessly inside the ship. It was cold and somewhat clammy but Sonic could careless. He was more interested in finding out who Jaylin was and why she was so important. After a few minutes he figured she probably imprisoned since Eggman loved to lock people up. He felt he had power over his victims when they we where he could see them. When he got to the prison cells he saw Metal Knux walking out of the cells room. He secretly watched him while listening to Jaylin mumble about how normal people don't go through things like that. When Metal Knux was out of sight Sonic let himself inside.

"Hey, I'm looking for a girl named Haylin Roberts!" Sonic joked emphasizing the H in Haylin.

Jaylin frowned unable to see who was talking.

"Haylin? Is this some kind of joke?" Jaylin asked angrily.

Sonic chuckled just out of sight.

"I'm kidding; anyway I'm here to rescue you." Sonic said waving.

Jaylin stared at him unable to speak. Sonic's smile widened, he thought she was extremely happy to see him but he was horribly wrong.

"You, you murderer…" Jaylin stated.

Sonic's smiled faded he was confused now.

"What?! Who me? I think the lighting in this room has you confused, I'm Sonic not M…"

"You caused the death of my parents; they filmed you racing on the highway. A car swerved into my parent's car because they were afraid to hit **_you_**." Jaylin said.

Sonic was speechless.

"But…but I've never."

"You did, you always race on the highway and for what?"

"Yes, I know but I've never caused an accident."

"The day you came back from earth."

"I don't remember causing an accident."

"I do, everyone else let it go because it was an accident and it was your first day back."

"No I think… you have me confused with…"

"If it wasn't you then who was it then?" Jaylin shouted.

Sonic almost believed what she said, the harshness in her voice almost scared him as he thought back to the day he got back from earth.

"Metal Sonic, you've heard of him right? That's who caused the accident we followed him to earth and then he disappeared with Eggman." Sonic said.

"My father told me how you got rid of Metal Sonic. A long time ago you saved this planet by destroying him. So you're telling **_me_** that he caused the accident? Are you kidding me?" Jaylin asked.

Sonic walked up to her.

"If you just trust me for a minute, I'll show you where he is. Eggman puts all his robots in one place." Sonic said becoming more and more serious.

Now they both stared at each other holding on to the prison bars.

"Fine, you've got one chance." Jaylin said.

Sonic smiled gratefully and unlocked the cell. Then he held out his hand. Jaylin hesitated before taking it she still didn't trust him but it was easier then waiting for Eggman to find her.

"I'm going to run now so please reframe from talking while my feet are in motion." Sonic said.

Jaylin stared at him and her face didn't change she wanted him to know that she still didn't trust him.

Sonic ran out of the room and into a large guarded area. He stopped suddenly to make sure the robots didn't see them.

"All right stay here, I'll get rid of the scrap metal." Sonic said.

He jumped and used to hornet attack to destroy both of the robots. Jaylin nodded and followed him into the room. Sonic looked behind her at the last second to see another robot ready to attack her.

"Watch out!" Sonic said getting ready to use the hornet attack again.

Instead Jaylin turned around, raised her hands, and let out a powerful spike of energy. She stood in place shocked she had hit the target. Then she turned back toward Sonic.

"I know how to defend myself." she said.

Sonic raised his eyebrows.

"That's…unique I guess, I just thought we were the only ones who had powers on this planet." Sonic said staring at her slightly confused.

They walked into the room to see robots all around the room. Some where lined up back to back and side to side. Others hung on the wall like a closet and Metal Sonic floated in a blue tube of liquid looking over them all on top of a balcony like platform that attached to a bridge in the center of the room. It took Jaylin's breath away; she looked around at the strange robots when her eyes fell upon Metal Sonic. She stared at him for a long time, after a while tears to fell from her face. She had been angry with the wrong person and she was afraid to look at him very much longer. She took a sharp breath in and held it for a moment.

"I'm, I'm sorry Sonic." she said.

Sonic finally looked to she why she sounded so scared.

"Why? It's not your fault. Y…"

"He's going to kill me too isn't he." she asked.

Sonic stared at her and sighed.

"Don't worry about it. As long as we get you to your family Metal Sonic won't be able to find you. I'll make sure of it." Sonic said.

Jaylin chuckled a little bit.

"My family, I don't even know my real family. Do I even have a family?" Jaylin said thinking out loud.

"Yes," Sonic answered. "And they're waiting for you."

She turned and smiled at him.

"Are you sure? Do they really want to see me? Even after everything I've put them through?" Jaylin asked trying harder not to cry.

Sonic nodded and smiled.

"Yes, they want to see you. They've been worried about you from what I've heard." Sonic said.

Jaylin nodded and smiled half heartedly.

"Well then let's go." she said.

**Knuckle's POV**

Knuckles walked around the ship still looking for Jaylin. He tried to concentrate on his mission but the images of Sonic finding her first were making him laugh.

"I'm here to rescue you!" Sonic said heroic like.

"I hate you get away from me you jerk!" Jaylin screamed.

Knuckles laughed and continued walking.

"Jaylin! Jaylin!" Knuckles whispered.

He concentrated harder.

"Jayl…" Knuckles stopped in the middle of his whisper and looked around. He sensed an emerald shard close by and turned completely around. He thought he was going crazy for a second.

"The master emerald can't be here, it's on my island. The chaos emeralds… could they be here? I don't remember Shadow finding one, Eggman either." Knuckles thought.

"Knuckles, funny seeing you here." said an overly flirtatious voice.

Knuckles felt a nervous wave of energy pass over him. He quickly turned around.

"R…Rouge? I though you…"

"Yes well, you shouldn't believe everything you see on the news, and you know how those reporters are." Rouge said wrapping one of his dreads around her fingers.

Knuckles tried to take a step back but he knew Rouge would take another step forward.

"Hey, you said you had a family emergency remember, what happened?" Knuckles asked.

Rouge smiled.

"You already know who I was talking about, Shadow sent her away so I went to look for her and ran into Eggman shortly after he went to jail. Now she suddenly wants to go home but she doesn't understand she isn't who she thinks she is." Rouge whispered into Knuckle's ear. He frowned trying to ignore how close she was.

"Who is she?" Knuckles asked.

"You know I can't tell you that, besides Tikal knows, it's her fault for screwing up in the first place." Rouge said giving Knuckles a small nudge.

Knuckles stared at her for a while thoughtfully wondering why she was always so secretive. He started to lean towards her and whispered into her ear.

"I'll ask **_her_** about it then." Knuckles said.

Rouge shrugged and gave him a suspicious smile, then she let go of his hair and took a step back.

"Go ahead emerald boy but be careful. You're playing with fire." Rouge said.

Knuckles smiled and grabbed her hand before she left.

"At least tell me where she is." Knuckles said quickly regretting grabbing her hand, and Rouge snatched her hand back.

"I'm going to get in trouble again because you can't figure it out. Ask Shadow, he's right behind you." Rouge said suddenly pretending to be innocent.

Knuckles frowned and quickly turned to see him staring angrily at him. Still Knuckles couldn't help but smile back at him seeing how angry he was.

"What's up Shadow, you have any fun hanging with Eggman?" Knuckles asked.

"I had **_fun_** with your mother. Leave this ship **now**." Shadow growled.

Knuckles challenged him.

"I'm not leaving without the girl. As soon as I find her we'll both leave and you can go back to whatever you were **_doing_** with Eggman. Unless you want me to beat the crap out of you." Knuckles said.

Shadow smiled and stepped up.

"Are you mad because your girlfriend is too busy staying at **_my_** apartment to come and visit you? Or do you think she's doing more than that?" Shadow asked.

Knuckles glared straight into his eyes.

"So you want me to beat the crap out of you?" Knuckles growled.

"Don't waste your breath Knuckles, oh and as far as Rouge goes, she's out of your league. It doesn't matter how you look at it." Shadow said.

Knuckles trembled trying to control his temper.

"You know what, I'm not going to fight you, I have better things to waste my energy on." Knuckles said turning to leave.

Shadow started to follow him but Knuckles punched a hole in a random pipe causing steam and mist fled into the room which prevented Shadow from seeing as well as he needed to.

"We'll finish this later." Shadow thought noticing Eggman was paging him.

"Hey Knuckles! I found her!" Sonic said catching up with Knuckles. Jaylin was closely behind him. She waved.

"Jaylin, you okay?" Knuckles asked.

Jaylin nodded but it was apparent that she was a nervous wreck and that she was trying to figure something out.

"Hey guys… I don't feel very good. I guess I've never been this high in the air before. Jaylin said rubbing her head.

"Are you sick? If so we need to hurry up." Knuckles said.

"She'll be okay, she's just a little air sick but Tails should have something to help her out." Sonic said using her head as an arm rest.

She glared at him.

"Back off Sonic, we're still not friends yet." Jaylin said. Sonic quickly reframed from leaning on her head.

"That's fair I guess." Sonic said.

Sonic and Knuckles both led Jaylin back to Tail's ship. It almost seemed too easy. Tails smiled when he saw them comming.

"Whoo! Awsome guys this mission is a success!" Tails said.

"Not yet Tails, we still have to land, as long as no one was spotted." Sonic said.

"Umm, does Shadow count?" Knuckles asked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin, and all of my characters' family!**

Tails had full control over his plane. He flew accurately back and forth through the air. Meanwhile Eggman laughed as he sent millions of missiles at them. Jaylin could barely take the pressure of each corkscrew and upside down loop she felt. Tails knew she was getting air sick but he couldn't land because the people in Mystic Ruins would be in danger of getting shot by Eggman's missiles.

"Eggman! Stop shooting at us! We only came to rescue the girl! Did she ever do to you?" Tails asked trying to dodge the missiles.

"That's none of your business fox boy! Either give her back so I can shoot you down or I'll just shoot you down with her inside!" Eggman shouted.

"Knock it off Eggman!" Knuckles warned.

"Who's going to stop me? Obviously you can't Ha!" Eggman laughed.

Rouge secretly watched Eggman terrorizing the small plane and its passengers. She quickly realized Jaylin was inside and took action without thinking. She hit him over the head with a mallet he created after Amy's Piko Piko hammer. Without too much trouble he fell unconscious and moaned in pain. His head hit a button that set off several more missiles. Rouge gasped.

"Oh no! You guys watch out!" Rouge shouted seconds before the missile struck the plane.

Jaylin saw it coming ahead of time but she was unable to concentrate and passed out on the spot.

"Jaylin wake up we're going to…" Tails's voice was drowned out by the sound of ripping metal and explosions.

Tails cried out in fear as they tumbled down towards the jungle.

"Sonic, what do we do?" Tails asked.

"Ya, Sonic this time you think of something!" Knuckles said falling but still managing to keep his cool at the same time.

"You guys can fly!" Sonic shouted.

Tails and Knuckles looked at one another and smiled.

"Oh ya." They said together.

Knuckles grabbed Jaylin's arm and Tails grabbed Sonic's.

"Well now what?" Tails asked looking down at Sonic.

He thought for a moment and shrugged. He took a look at Jaylin and sighed.

"We've got a mission to finish." he said and they both agreed.

Knuckles suddenly heard a small spine chilling voice inside his head.

"You mustn't worry about her so, her path was chosen long ago… let her be great guardian of jewels." it said.

Knuckles looked at Jaylin and nodded for this was out of his control. He let go of her arm and watched as she fell down towards the jungle.

"Knuckles what are you doing!?!" Sonic shouted franticly.

"Tikal, she said… just to let her go." Knuckles said watching her.

Sonic sat with his mouth wide open and Tails nodded though he didn't understand.

--------

Jaylin once again had a strange dream. She was half asleep in someone's arms. It was dark and warm where she was but at the same time she felt coldness inside of her. She could tell she was just barely alive and that she was struggling to stay awake.

"Please save her." A voice said.

She sounded similar to Jaylin but much more matured.

"Why have you come to me for help?" said the same spine chilling voice.

The first person was silent for a second and Jaylin could feel small droplets of water fall onto her face.

"Please, every doctor I've been to hasn't been able to save her. I'll do anything." said the voice again.

Jaylin felt her lungs closing and she closed her eyes.

"Very well then, I will save her but I cannot do anything more for you." the voice said.

Jaylin felt a warm light come into her and it filled in the coldness. She took a small breath in and reopened her eyes.

"Thank you so much, so much."

**Jaylin's POV**

Jaylin woke up unharmed and confused.

"Where am I?" she asked. She felt the cold metal floor beneath her.

"Welcome back." Rouge said in the corner of the room.

Jaylin turned to look at her. She sat staring sadly back at her. Jaylin then turned to see Shadow and Eggman watching them both from behind a tinted window.

"What happened? I thought I was going to go home now." Jaylin said. Her voice was scared and small as if she had been screaming all night.

Rouge smiled and sighed.

"I wish that was how it happened but I was too late and Eggman's missiles got to you first." Rouge said.

Jaylin shook her head slowly.

"Why are we in here?" Jaylin asked terrified.

Rouge was afraid to answer so she chose her words very carefully.

"Your power is too… dangerous. Eggman doesn't want to take a chance and have you destroy his ship. I tried to help you escape so, if your power destroys anything it will be me." Rouge explained fearfully trying to keep her cool.

Jaylin took a step farther from Rouge and she realized Rouge was afraid of her.

"I won't hurt you. I can't your my family Rouge." Jaylin said.

Rouge pulled her hair back and took a deep breath.

"I know. Don't worry about it Jaylin." Rouge said.

"Just so you know, we're about to reach my empire, so I suggest you start to use your power now." Eggman laughed.

Jaylin gazed almost horrified at the tinted window.

"Please let her go Eggman. I'll help you but please let Rouge go." Jaylin shouted.

Eggman stared interested in what Jaylin said, but stayed silent.

"No Jaylin! You don't understand, your power is too dangerous, you can't control it. You can't help Eggman! Don't be stupid!" Rouge yelled.

Jaylin ignored her.

"Please let her go, don't make me do this." Jaylin cried. She felt her power start to take over.

Eggman observed her for another minute, she started trembling and her hair started to raise just enough to make a difference.

"Eggman please!" Jaylin cried falling to knees trying to resist.

"Your power will kill you if you keep resisting." Eggman laughed.

"Shadow please stop him. Don't let him do this to her." Rouge said.

Shadow looked at Rouge who stared back at him. He wondered why she cared so much then he looked back Jaylin who was minutes away from killing herself.

"Don't listen to her Shadow; she doesn't understand how important Jaylin's power is to my… our empire." Eggman stated.

Shadow looked back at Jaylin who hung by a thread now, she glared down at the floor trying harder and harder not to unleash her power.

"I won't do this. I won't hurt anyone else." Jaylin whispered.

Eggman snarled.

"Kill her now! I need to see how powerful you are." Eggman shouted.

"No, I won't!" Jaylin screamed unsure how much longer she could keep it all in.

"Shadow, how can you just watch him hurt people like this?" Rouge asked.

Shadow clenched him teeth he couldn't choose which side he was on.

"I… she needs to learn to control it, otherwise it will…" Shadow sighed frustrated. "She has to unleash it."

"You can teach her, like before. Otherwise Eggman will kill her." Rouge said.

"You know how she is, why would she listen to you?" Eggman laughed.

Shadow stared at Eggman then Rouge then back at Eggman. He heard Jaylin whimper and he knew it was only a matter of time before she would let her power take over.

"Stop Eggman, she will use her power when we get to Robotnic city, in the meantime you should try and find out what Jaylin told Sonic." Shadow said pressing a button that stopped Jaylin from unleashing her power.

Eggman gasped and Jaylin sighed relied that Shadow had stopped Eggman. Rouge smiled got up and walked over to Jaylin.

"Don't worry Jaylin, everything will be explained soon enough." Rouge said.

Eggman was too afraid to tell Shadow off so he thought of an excuse.

"Fine, we'll be able to study her better, Rouge, you'd better not try anything else again or I'll be forced to get rid of you myself." Eggman said leaving the tinted room.

Rouge glared at him.

"You coward! Come down here and say it to my face!" Rouge shouted furiously.

"He's afraid of you Shadow; without you he's nothing." Jaylin whispered. "You don't owe him anything. Maria wanted you to save people remember."

Shadow glared at them both.

"Be ready when we reach the city." Shadow said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer and author notes: I only own my house, my character Jaylin and all of my character's family! By the way, sorry for not writing for so long!**

Knuckles and Tikal talked for a while next to the master emerald. The sun was starting to set as dark clouds filled the sky. Knuckles knew that something had gone wrong and that he was running out of time.

"Explain to me why you wanted me to abandon an unconscious 13 year old in the middle of the jungle. Do you understand that a psychotic manic has found her?" Knuckles asked.

"She is going where she is needed. I know what I am doing." Tikal said. She sighed at Knuckles's impatience.

"Eggman's trying to hold her for ransom; he's charging 2 million for her safe return! That guy's going to kill her, and you told me to let her go!" Knuckles complained.

"Calm down Knuckles! She's okay, you will find her, but only when the time is right. Unfortunately you're going to need some help." Tikal said.

"I can't calm down! Her family-"

"She will go to her family! She has to learn to control herself before you find her!"

"How am I supposed to find her? She can't even sit still!" Knuckles shouted letting his voice raise.

Chaos rose from the emerald sensing that Tikal was nervous. He glared at Knuckles, warning him.

"Watch yourself guardian." Tikal growled.

"Forgive me princess, I'm just confused about all of this." Knuckles mumbled.

Tikal felt sorry for him so she decided to throw him a bone.

"Do you remember the wolf tribes that use to dwell in the jungle?" she asked.

Knuckles thought for a minute before nodding. "Yes, the Aqueous, Charring, Terra, and the…"

"The celestial tribe," Tikal finished for him. "Their sister tribes were destroyed many years ago, causing them to hide underground. They've sent they're last living queen out into the world to get help."

Knuckles frowned. "I guess that means we've got to wait for her to find us."

Tikal smiled and nodded she let some of her frustration go. "Yes, but beware, you will have to meet her half way. Your five friends can help, and somehow, I think you'll be able to save this world once again."

"Three? You mean two? Sonic, Tails, and me." Knuckles said.

Tikal turned back to the master emerald to leave. "No, I meant five." Tikal said, and with a ball of light she disappeared.

"Five friends…" Knuckles thought.

"Hey Knuckles!! What did she say?" Tails asked running to meet him.

"Where's Sonic?" Knuckles asked. Tails shrugged pointing towards the jungle.

"Sonic got bored and ran off. He's probably over by my workshop or at the train station." Tails said eager to know what had just happened.

"I only want to explain this once so let's go find that idiot first." Knuckles said running towards the jungle.

After about 10 minutes of looking, Knuckles and Tails found Sonic sitting in a palm tree and Amy Rose trying to cut it down. Meanwhile Vector, Charmy, and Espio stared at them trying not to laugh.

"You… said… you'd… call… me... back!" Amy said with every hit of her hammer.

"I was going to but it just slipped my mind, again," sonic lied. "Guys, help!"

"Hey what's going on here?" tails asked already knowing as he'd been through this many times before.

"Hey guys. What's up!" Charmy squealed.

"Knuckles sighed walking up to Amy. "Hey, we need to borrow Sonic for a few more hours. We'll give him back in a few days."

Amy swung her hammer at Knuckles. "No! You guys always hang out with him! He's mine!" she shouted.

Knuckles caught her hammer and broke it into pieces.

"Knock it off Amy! We've got to find that girl on the news." He shouted back.

Amy just glared harder at him. She ignored her hammer and cracked her fingers. "I'll fight you for him!" she said even though she didn't have a snowballs chance.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and had Tails deal with her.

"Listen Amy, if we don't go find Jaylin soon who knows what could happen to this world. She's very unstable as it is." Tails said.

Amy looked at Tails. She sighed, unable to argue with his logic. "Oh alright, but only for a few days okay Tails. Make sure he calls me back next time." She said blowing a kiss to Sonic and walking back to the train station.

"Hey, we can help if you guys want, free of charge." Espio mumbled.

Knuckles stared at them.

"_**Your five friends can help, and somehow, I think you'll be able to save this world once again" **_Tikal's voice echoed in his mind.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Good job Espio!" Vector said.

Sonic hopped down from the tree. "Nah, we're okay. Besides you guys are probably busy."

"Wait! Yeah, you guys can help! We just have to contact her." Knuckles said pushing Sonic out of the way.

Charmy happily flew around. "Cool! Then she can come live with us like one big happy family!" he said.

"Um, mind explaining Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles nodded, "Yeah, I'll explain everything on the train."


End file.
